1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to data storage systems and in particular to a method of replacing storage devices in a storage system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continue to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system can be configured in several different configurations. The information handling system can range from a single, stand-alone computer system to a distributed, multi-device computer system, to a networked computer system with remote or cloud storage systems. Both local computer storage systems and remote or cloud storage systems can include redundant arrays of independent drives (RAID) that use hard disk drives or solid state storage drives. The drives can be configured to have different redundancy levels depending upon the amount of redundancy required.
While the load balancing features of RAID storage schemes work well for hard disk drives, they cause several disadvantages when used with solid state drives. Non-volatile memory devices used in solid state drives have a limited number of write or program erase (P/E) cycles to each cell after which the cell is unusable. Over time, the memory cells wear out due to the repeated application of electrical currents causing breakdown of insulating layers within the transistors. Typical memory devices can withstand around 100,000 P/E cycles. After the P/E cycle life is exceeded, worn out cells can deteriorate the integrity of the storage causing loss of data. Data written to worn out cells can be lost. Each solid state drive has a maximum number of program/erase cycles called the endurance life. Once the endurance life of the solid state drive is exceeded, data can no longer reliably be written to the drive and replacement of the drive is required.
When a storage device fails or is predicted to be approaching its endurance life, the data from the failed or failing device is required to be copied to another storage device. The copying process impacts the reliability and availability of the storage system. When a replacement operation is being performed, performance of the storage system is degraded. The performance of the storage system is further degraded if data changes occur to the failed or predicted to fail storage device during the copying process.